Kukui Cup challenges 1,000 UH Mānoa students to conserve energy

Over 1,000 first-year University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa students living in the Hale Aloha residence halls are embarking on the Quest for the Kukui Cup, an innovative energy challenge, from October 17 through November 6. Using custom web and mobile applications developed in the UH Mānoa Department of Information and Computer Sciences, students will be able to access their floors’ current power consumption, their cumulative energy use during the challenge, and videos explaining Hawai‘i’s unique energy challenges and opportunities.

By lowering their energy consumption, as well as by demonstrating the understanding of energy concepts and Hawai‘i’s energy problems, students can compete to win prizes, including a guitar signed by Jack Johnson and a ukulele signed by Jake Shimabukuro.

The online game is enhanced by workshops with an energy conservation theme, such as a Recycled Fashion Design workshop to be hosted by Andy South, a Hawai‘i finalist in season eight of the television show “Project Runway.” On weekends, the Kukui Cup challenge will host excursions to energy-related locations such as First Wind’s wind farm in Kahuku.

“The Kukui Cup is a truly unique opportunity for our first-year students to learn how they use energy in their daily lives, and why energy is both an incredible challenge and opportunity for Hawai‘i in the coming years,” said Philip Johnson, organizer of the challenge and a professor in UH Mānoa’s Department of Information and Computer Sciences. “UH Mānoa is the first university to combine real-time energy monitoring, gaming elements including quests and scoreboards, social networking, incentives, and energy education in a single unified experience for students.”

The Kukui Cup is sponsored by the National Science Foundation; the Hawai‘i State Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism; Hawaii Energy; and the UH Mānoa’s Center for Renewable Energy and Island Sustainability, Housing Services, Facilities Management, and Department of Information and Computer Sciences.